Quali recap: Charles second, Carlos third

Clear skies, windy. Temperatures: air 21, track 31

Q1. Both Ferraris go out on new Softs, with Charles setting a time of 1’06”762, while Carlos’ first time is cancelled for exceeding track limits. Leclerc improves to 1’06”200 and Sainz posts a 1’06”397.   The two Ferraris come in for new Softs and then set time of 1’05”419 and 1’05’660. Both go through to Q2.

Q2.  Charles and Carlos go out on used Softs. The Monegasque manages a 1’05”774, while the Spaniard does a 1’05”923. The pair pit for new Softs and attack again: Charles posts a 1’05”287, while Carlos laps in 1’05”576 to get them through to the final shoot-out.

Q3. The lights are green, but no one goes out. Then, after two minutes Charles is the first man on track with new Softs. He gets held up by Lewis Hamilton on his way to a 1’05”183, to go second fastest, with Carlos third on 1’05”300. The drivers are about to go out again on Softs, but the session is red flagged when Hamilton crashes. Fortunately, he is not hurt and ten minutes later the session is on again. It has barely got going when the red flags come out again, this time because George Russell has gone off the track and he too is fine. There are just 2 minutes left on the clock before the chequered flag: Charles and Carlos both improve, getting down to 1’05”013 and 1’05”066 respectively. Charles is just 29 thousandths slower than Max Verstappen.